The Place Name Riverhead & its Implications

The discipline of tracing the meaning of place names has made enormous progress and provides useful pointers to early developments.

The place name Riverhead would seem to be most appropriate, lying as it does close to the source of the Darent. In fact the name derives from O.E. hrithr + hyth the meaning of which is neatly summed up as Cattlewharf¹. That the place was of some importance in early times is indicated by the fact that it was the meeting-place of Codsheath Hundred. That it was known in pre-historic times is evidenced by the name of the river, Darent, one of the few Celtic names to have survived in Kent.

Cattlewharf is an odd name to give a place – the purpose of these notes is to collect together such indications as exist that the name was factual.

An unpublished manuscript written by E.G. Box, a colleague of Dr. Gordon Ward, states ‘On Bradbourne Farm there is in the fields near the Darent a grass platform the origin or use of which has not yet been determined by archaeologists. It is a grass platform raised about two feet above the marshes which edge the river, and is perhaps half a mile in length and in breadth about 50 feet. It stretches from the east of the footbridge over the river towards the Otford Road and the gas works. On the south side of it is a ditch and bank about four or five feet high and above the bank a field rising towards the Maidstone Road.......Mr. W. P. Banks of Longford says that black and hard bog oak has been found in the marshes near Longford Bridge, “remains of oak trees or of pile dwellings.”²

In a letter to Ward dated 28.02.26 Box writes ‘I want you to come with me to the “platform” on Bradbourne Farm…’ and later enquires whether anybody has searched the Darent marshes for remains of lake dwellings. He was clearly puzzled by this structure. Ward seems never to have written about it, indicating that he could not decide what it was.

On examining the Ordnance Survey map of 1869 it is found the parish boundary coincides with the description given of the situation of the ‘platform’. Parish boundaries often followed the line of early structures and it is considered to be a sign of their antiquity: this boundary was running across open fields, unless it followed the line of the ‘platform’. Aerial photograph taken by the late Major T.A. Colyer (c. 1940) was obtained from America but showed nothing of interest. No others of the early date required have been traced.

The area has been massively altered by quarrying for aggregates, and later flooding, creating the Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve. Mr. John Tyler, Warden of the Reserve, confirmed to me that he believes there had been a deep ditch in the situation described, although he had not actually seen it, which was filled when Bradbourne School was built.

Professor Alan Everitt states that the dedication ‘St. John the Baptist’ is often associated with hythes⁴; this supports the dedication of the ancient chapel at Greatness.

If this was a quay it was quite large, and must have been of economic importance⁵. Remains of quays have been found elsewhere in the country at situations where there is no longer a navigable river⁶, and it is recognised by historians that water levels have dropped in later centuries.

This structure must have been present during Anglo-Saxon times, as they named it. That there was being used to export cargoes in the C13th is indicated by the instructions of Henry 1:1 to the Sheriff of Kent in 1225 to supply paling timber to Dover from the lands of the Kings’ Sister, Eleanor Countess of Pembroke, who then owned Kemsing, and that this was to be transported by water⁷. Part of this cargo to be loaded near Riverhead, taken down the Darent, Thames, Swale, Wantsum to Dover is quite feasible; Dr. Paul Wilkinson tells me all timber from Darford to Dover would have required few favourable tides. There does not seem to have been any alternative water-borne route.

The Riverhead name associated with cattle. There is some confusion amongst scholars as to the exact translation of the O.E. words (Gratianhere 821⁸, Greaten ass 1087 and 1227) meaning the adjacent Greatness area. The first element is agreed to mean gravelly, possibly of a stream, the second either ‘enclosed pasture, park’ or ‘stubble/ploughed field’¹⁰. Wallenberg opts for the first but remarks that they probably meant about the same thing¹¹. An enclosed pasture area would be required to hold cattle. That other animals were held in the area is indicated by the charter of 822 specifically stating that the dens it then granted to Seal were ‘for the pasturing of swine and of sheep or goats in their places’¹².

A study in 1973 of the banks and hedges around Otford¹³ concluded that some hedges were at least 900 years old, and that the banks they were sited on predated them. Later there were three well documented areas (Great, Little and New) at Otford; it was agreed that Great Park was the land granted in Saxon times¹⁴ and these areas have the old banks on their peripheries, with younger hedges subdividing them¹⁵ – an indication of land being bought into cultivation as the water table dropped. A study of the area south of Kemsing referred to the value of a park’s ‘herte’ (record 1275). Seal had a park to the north in 1525, Brabayn (sic as ‘Braborne’) in 1228¹⁶, Ightham¹⁷ and Wrotham¹⁸ also. The valley within the Holmesdale valley Early (and indeed, current) maps show these same areas to be markedly devoid of both settlement and woodland in contrast-distinction to its peripheral areas. This suggests that the whole of this area was given over at an early date for animal husbandry, for which it was particularly suited, and that at a later date it became split up into smaller parks, within the ancient boundary banks.

So if I were the job of those living at Seal and Kemsing to maintain those boundaries, and care for the animals within them, then the unusual association of these two manors would be explained. (They and Bradbourne have walked hand in hand through centuries)¹⁹. The name Wrotham has been translated as the name of a man nicknamed Snout, but maybe it was associated with pigs, which would accord with its Domesday Book entry.

All the manors named above had extensive arable farming deep into the Weald: those of Seal and Kemsing were closely associated, being placed alternately along the same drove-way². This fact alone indicates a large number of animals being held there and that it was not cattle alone is indicated by the charter of 822 referenced above. The place-name Chipstead meaning ‘market-place’²³ is another O.E. word of relevance – a market place is likely to have arisen near a quay.

The dating of construction of a quay here is problematic, and could only be ascertained by archaeological evidence. There has never been such investigation in the immediate area. There is no ancient archival reference to it, but this is not unusual of early developments.

Examining the general area and gathering the evidence here is what the following:

1. The O.E. place-name meaning Cattlewharf, and others in the immediate area which are relevant.
2. Well verified Romano-British sites just to the north, at Otford, clustered mainly around the river field. If there were a quay with extensive activity both there and in the Darent, the area would have required an associated port. This area was already largely marshland – Henry VIII refused to there with his great-grandson²⁴, preferring the well-drained Knock, and it would have been drier in his times than earlier.
3. The same arguments apply as to the siting of an Archbishops residence. He owned most of the area and if it were of economic importance it would have been logical for him to have such there even if the majority of the site was not well drained.
4. The siting of Romano-British villa sites along the Darent valley. The regular disposition of known R.B. sites to the north and south of Wailing Street has led Dr. Paul Wilkinson to suggest that slate supervision of their development is implied. This is mirrored in the Darent valley.
5. Distinctive stamped tiles of the R.B. period have been found at Plaxtol²⁵, Darenth²⁶ and Broad Street, London²⁷. This distribution follows one line suggested below in 5.
6. Too complex to detail here, but following the criteria of Margary, evidence of an early Roman road running westwards from Amber Green (where Margary’s Route 11 deviates northwards to Maidstone²⁸, terminating at Riverhead. Route 11 commenced at Lympne.
7. The Roman invasion of Britain in A.D.43 is believed to have followed lines of penetration, westwards along an eastern line north of the Thames. The line from Riverhead – Dartford would give a supply line to both areas via the Thames westwards, along the northeastern coastline.

For the above reasons the suggested date of construction is the early Roman period.

The writer is indebted to Roger Cocket of FAAG for suggesting that the presence of a quay and enclosure at Riverhead may have had a bearing on the events of 1016. The year was that of a battle between King Edmund Ironside and the invader Knut, which Florence of Worcester, writing c1120, places at ‘near Otford’. Knut and his men, following an unsuccessful siege of London, commenced looting in Mercia, north of the Thames, and then crossed the river into Kent, driving their living booty²⁹. This is speculation, but if they headed for the known cattle facilities at Riverhead, Ironside (who had been searching for them), might have anticipated the move, got there first, and fallen on their rear. With men and mounts weary, they did not put up the usual good account of themselves, broke and fled towards the east. By Aylesford, many had been slaughtered; Knut survived to return north.

There is a planning application to build on an area adjacent to the ‘quay line’. If this succeeds, it would be prudent to place an archaeological watching brief on the site, keeping it to the should anything requiring more detailed investigation appear, the necessary funds might be available from the aggregate companies who are offering financial support for archaeology on sites which they are about to work, or have done in the past.

1. Everitt. Prof. E. Continuity & Colonization. Leicester University Press, 1986. p.71
2. Box. E.G. ‘Sevenoaks & Adjoining Areas’. Sevenoaks Library Local History. pp. 56 f2
3. Dr. G. Ward file KAS archives, Maidstone Museum.
4. Everitt. Prof. A Continuity & Colonization. pp. 269 & 253
5. Gelling. Dr M. Place-Names in the Landscape. J.M. Dent. London. pp. 62 & 77.
6. Everitt. Prof. A Continuity & Colonization pp. 71/2
7. Ward. Sevenoaks Library Local History. Box 16 Bk 1. Close Roll 9 Henry 111. Memb. 14.
8. Charter 821 BCB 367. Discussed in Wallenberg. ‘Kentish Place-names. p. 140.
9. Charter 822 BCB 370. Discussed in Wallenberg. ‘Kentish Place-Names’ p.141/5.
10. Ekwall. E. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. 4th ed. pp.161/8/6 20/8
11. Wallenberg. J. Kentish Place-names. p. 144.
12. Editor: Whitelock. D. English Historical Documents. Vol.1. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A.D.822.
13. Hewlett. G. ‘Reconstructing a Historical Landscape from Field & Documentary Evidence’. Agricultural History Review, Vol. 21. 1973. pp. 94-110
14. Ward. The Making of the Great Park at Otford. Arch. Cant. Vol. XLI1. 1929. pp. 1-11
15. As. 13. above
16. Bowden. M. The Medieval Park at Kemsing. Arch. Cant. Vol. CXII. 1996. pp. 329 – 332
17. Ward Files. Sevenoaks Library Local Studies. Box 6 Bk 1. Fines 20. 118-25.
18. Bowden. Sevenoaks Library Local Studies. Box 16. Bk. 1. Close Rolls. 8 Henry 111. Memb. 14.
19. Harrison. Sir E. Frontispiece Map of Ightham in reprint from Arch. Cant. Vol. XLIII of the ‘Court Rolls and Other Records of the Manor of Ightham.
20. 1841 Wrotham The Map of Apportionments. Nos. 1525-75 & 960 at Park Farm.
21. Knocker. H.W. The Valley of Holmesdale. Arch. Cant. XXX1. p.174
22. Winfrey. The Justis Forest. p.23.
23. Ekwall. E. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. 4th ed. p.105
24. Clarke & Stoyel. ‘Otford in Kent’. pp. 111/12.
25. Faussitt. Sir. Vol. 11. 1859. CBA Report No. 48. ‘Archaeology in Kent to A.D. 1500. Blagg. Cannon. Kent. p. 58.
26. Philip. B E. ‘Archaeological Excavations in the Darenth Valley’ p. 7.
27. Faussitt title. Victoria County History. Vol. 111. p.185. NB. The tile at Broad St. was recorded by Faussitt, a careful and competent investigator, in 1773. The Plaxtol villa site was unknown until 1857.
28. Margary. Ivan D. ‘Roman Ways in the Weald’. Map inside back cover, pp. 210/43.
29. Editor: Whitelock D. English Historical Documents. Vol. 1. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. p. 227.
30. British Archaeology. Issue 65. 2002. pp. 43. ‘Sustainability Fund in England’.